Markieff Morris Thinks He ‘Deserves’ Sixth Man of the Year Award

Sorry to Jamal Crawford, Manu Ginobili and Taj Gibson, but Suns forward Markieff Morris thinks he’s the Sixth Man of the Year. Morris told the Arizona Republic that the Suns’ surprise success should give him the edge over the other candidates, whose teams, according to Kieff, were expected to have winning seasons:

There are plenty of numbers that make the argument for power forward Markieff Morris to be the NBA’s Sixth Man Award winner but Morris thinks the one that seals his case is the win column.

“Coming off the bench with energy, scoring, rebounding, making my teammates better and winning games, especially when we were supposed to win 17,” Morris said. “When you’re supposed to win 17 and you got a guy like me averaging 14 points and we might pull off a playoff run 15 or 16 games above .500. You knew the Clippers (Jamal Crawford reference) were going to be good. You knew the Bulls (Taj Gibson reference) were going to be good, with or without D (Derrick) Rose. Y’all thought we were going after a Number 1 pick. I think I deserve Sixth Man Award for the team success.”

Morris has scored more points than any NBA reserve this season and the fourth most of any Suns sub, behind Sixth Man Award winners Leandro Barbosa, Dan Majerle and Eddie Johnson.